Paris, Barcelona & the BEST Surprise Ever

For our Christmas present this year we treated ourselves to a week in Paris & Barcelona. We did it all! From the Eiffel Tower on NYE to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. We had a blast! I'll let you see for yourself...

 MASSIVE macaroons! 

Side note: I am aware that my attire is completely ridiculous here.... It was COLD. 

 

 Happy New Year!

 Lots of metros and crepes

Locking our love on the Pont des Arts

 The most fancy meal of our lives!

 aww the Louvre...

You could spend days in that place...

 Notre Dame

Next we took the train down to Barcelona!

 La Pedrera

                                                                                                    Sagrada Familia

Antonio Gaudi pretty much owns Barcelona...

Not a phone... touristy audio guide.

Gaudi for the win... again. House of Bones.

A little beach time. 65 degrees will do.

View of Barcelona from Montjuic

 The Magic Fountain & 3 Kings Christmas Parade 

We had an absolute blast. A trip we will never forget!

Now on to the "Best surprise ever" part...

Mr. Austin Cornilles' Birthday.

My birthday was going to be tough to beat. London and Wicked was pretty epic. It just so happened that Austin's dad was going to be doing business in Europe the week of his birthday, AND the Ducks were playing in the national championship game that night (kick off at 1:30am here). It worked out perfectly to have Rob come surprise Austin for his big day and watch the game with him! I sneakily emailed Austin's professor and asked if I could surprise him in his class. It played out wonderfully... I came in and announced his birthday, the class sang, and Rob popped in at the end with balloons. Austin was shocked. It was perfect.

Our First Ever Christmas Letter

Guest post: Mr. Austin Cornilles

2014 has brought adventure and change to our young married life.  We have experienced everything from malaria in Africa and altitude sickness in Japan to swinging on a trapeze in Mexico and walking through German Christmas markets in England.  Wherever we have been in our spectacular world, 2014 has brought Callie and I closer together.  Take a look at some of our most memorable moments during the past year.

During the first four months of the year, Callie continued to sell real estate in Utah.  Yes, she has her own Zillow page and her team was also honored with a regional award at her company’s award banquet.  All her hard work has definitely helped support us in all of my expensive endeavors.

In April, after four years in Provo – six for Callie – I graduated from BYU and was able to celebrate with my family and my in-laws.  A sensible person might imagine starting a reliable 9-5 job in the city where they and their spouse grew up, but I have different plans.  Callie never imagined where life would take her and her future husband while growing up in Portland, Oregon.

In May, we were able to go on vacation to Ixtapa, Mexico with the Russell family.  After a cancelled flight, a night in Mexico City, and lost baggage, we were able to relax on the beach.  Callie enjoyed the trapeze while I enjoyed playing soccer with the resort employees.  We loved spending time with family and seeing Julie dance the night away at the nightly parties.  After all the fun, we couldn’t forget to take a picture with our Rip City gear.

A few days after returning home from Mexico, Callie and I got on a plane for the longest traveling experience of our lives.  After spending a night in Dubai, we finally arrived in Accra, Ghana.  There, we worked for a company that trains small businesses in developing markets.  We experienced what rain is like in Africa, long tro tro rides through bumpy, dusty roads, the largest market in West Africa, sketchy currency exchanges, mosquitos, USA vs Ghana in the World Cup, our second anniversary, and cold showers.  Through it all, we met amazingly faithful and hard working people.  It would be an understatement to say we were inspired over and over again.

After returning home from Ghana in July, we were back on the airplane heading to Japan with the Cornilles Family.  My brother, Brennan just returned home from his mission in Taiwan, so this was our catching up time.  My dad got to see a man from his mission and my parents showed us where they used to live.  We climbed Mt. Fuji, swam in the Sea of Japan, visited historical sights, and took selfies with wild deer.  It was amazing to experience Japanese culture and spend time with family.

In September, Callie and I stuffed our lives into our suitcases and moved to Birmingham, England so I could attend graduate school.  Callie and I have made some great friends and feel at home in our new ward at church.  Callie is serving the young children in the primary and I am serving the young men.  We love learning new meanings behind British words and meeting people from all over the world.  Living in a big city with old architecture is something we thought you only saw in movies!

Callie and I feel extremely blessed to have been able to make so many new friends and travel to so many places this last year.  We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for everything we have experienced and look forward to the adventures 2015 will bring!

Merry Christmas!

With love, 
The Cornilles'

England vs. America

People say not to compare, but I just had to do it. There are so many great things about England, and a few things we miss from the US. I'm a born and bred, hamburger eating, red white and blue American- so there are a few biases there. England is brilliant though, and we've only just begun here.

Let the battle begin!

Chocolate- Maybe it is because we are in Europe, but even the chocolate you buy at the local gas station is better than American chocolate.
Winner: ENGLAND

Cheese- I have no idea why it's better here. It just is.
Winner: ENGLAND

Toilets- This one is weird and probably TMI...apologies in advance. The water level in the toilets here are consistently quite a bit lower than in the states. Which is great for two reasons,
1) they use less water & 2) the diminished splash factor. Need I say more?
Winner: ENGLAND

Customer Service- Hands down, America. We are very conscious about customer service in the States. Sometimes it can even be excessive or annoying, but not here. People just don't care as much. Lose a customer? eh... whatever. Call me spoiled but I am just used to a quality of service at shops, restaurants, etc, that people just don't provide here.
Winner: AMERICA

Public Transportation- Trains, tubes, buses, undergrounds, flying cars, teleportation... okay fine, not the last two. But honestly, you can get anywhere in Europe on public transport. It is amazing and efficient. Don't get we wrong, I miss having a car, but the PT is second to none.
Winner: ENGLAND

Winter- Son of a nutcracker, it is cold here. It's a wet cold and you feel it right down to your bones. Geographically, Americans just have more options for weather conditions. It's a huge country. Go to Arizona or Florida and have a nice warm Christmas. England is an isolated winter island. I'm told it's only going to get worse come January. Eeek.
Winner: AMERICA

Variety/Choices- Since America is a melting pot of different people and backgrounds, we have tons of variety. We can go to the grocery store and have literally 30 different options for everything. You just have less to choose from here. I was beginning to enjoy the simplicity, until I couldn't find root beer.
Winner: AMERICA

Vocabulary- Numerous times since we've been here I have heard mothers asking their young children to behave by using the phrase, "Can you please be sensible?" I didn't even know the word sensible until at least middle school.
Winner: ENGLAND

Time- Every second counts in America. We work from sun up to sun down. No stopping. No breaks. No fun. Too far? The english way of life is much more relaxed. It's lovely.
Winner: ENGLAND

Location- A couple hours to Paris on the tube. Also, a short/cheap flight cheap to anywhere in Europe. England is prime location.
Winner: ENGLAND

Sports- There is no contest. The two sports I miss watching the most are basketball and football. NBA, NFL, College Basketball, College Football. They only thing they have on us is soccer... aka: football. And I can't deny they REALLY have us there, but nothing beats a packed Moda Center in April. Am I right? Rrrrrrrrrrripp Cittyyyyy!
Winner: AMERICA

Side note. Our friends here were nice enough to lend us a mini tree!

Merry Christmas!

THANKSGIVING!

This year for Thanksgiving we got together with a group of Americans from our church. It was wonderful. I hope you all enjoyed the food day as much as we did.

In light of the season I would like to present a list of things I am especially grateful for...

Our Savior, Jesus Christ

Austin <3

Our families

Thoughtful friends

Music

A home

Rain

Delicious food

Prayer

Warm showers

Medicine

Colors

Make up (ridiculous? Yes.)

Tomorrows

Slippers

Skype

Sports

Candles

How to do London in 1 Day

For my birthday my husband took me to London! We were originally planning on staying a night or two but we didn't want to bother with packing, carrying around luggage, booking a hotel, etc. We decided to make it a day trip.

For all you travelers with a layover in London or some time to kill- this is for you. There are so many amazing things to see, we didn't know if it would be possible to do in a day. I'm here to tell you it's possible.

I'M NO EXPERT! This was just our experience :)

Transportation
We live in Birmingham, so for us it was easy. London is only a few hours away by coach or train. We decided to take the coach, since it's cheaper and we do everything on a budget. We booked the tickets with National Express the week before and went to and from London for under £30 total.

While we were in the city we decided we would use the tube (underground train) to get around the city. We bought an all day pass for £8. You can buy these at any station. You can also use the bus system if preferred. The tube system is just so easy to navigate, as newbies we went with that. Also, even with a pass you will be doing quite a bit of walking. Wear comfortable shoes and bring an umbrella :)

Attractions

(Disclaimer- to see all of what we did in a day we didn't spend a significant amount of time at any one place. This was more of a surface trip rather than a deep dive. If you want more of a deep dive experience pick 2-3 attractions.)

Buckingham Palace (1)

You can pay to go inside and tour but we opted to take cheesy pictures outside and film the guards as they marched.

Westminster Abbey (2)

Absolutely beautiful! Again, you can pay to go inside but we just looked from the outside. We were not disappointed.

Big Ben (3)

It is a beautiful as it looks in the pictures. The detail is incredible.

London Eye (4)

We didn't ride it but boy it is a sight to see. Right on the river.

Trafalgar Square/ National Gallery (5)

The square is beautiful! Amazing statues and fountains. We did go inside the National Gallery and it was a treat! (Also,  FREE!) I wish I had listened a bit better in art history, because I know I didn't appreciate all it had to offer. Rooms and rooms of paintings from centuries passed. A few notables that I actually recognized- paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Da Vinci.

Tower of London/Tower Bridge (6)

It was Remembrance Day this past week, so they put 888, 246 ceramic poppy flowers in the moat at the tower to commemorate the fallen of the British military during WW1. If we had more time we wished would have gone inside the tower to view the Crowned Jewels. There we so many people there to see the poppies we didn't get great pictures, or even a good look at the bridge. Next time.

Herrods (7)

This department store is INSANE. I kind of felt like Jenny Humphrey on the Upper East Side. Gossip Girl reference... anyone? Couldn't afford anything in there, but it was worth the visit.

Apollo Victoria Theatre- Wicked (8)

The cherry on top of the cake. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. If you ever have time to go to a show, DO IT. This was my birthday present. Big purchase for the year.

Platform 9 3/4 

(Not shown. North of the map at Kings Cross Station)

Calling all Harry Potter fans! This was a little outside the route, but we just had too. Yep. We were super touristy and did this. Come on though, you can't go to London and NOT do this.

This was my first time to London so I wanted to see everything! Again, if you want a more in depth experience, pick just a few things to see. 

London in 1 day is possible people!!

Best Birthday Ever.